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A Boy and His Dog (LQ Jones, 1975)
So the world's gone through WWIV and now Don Johnson has been hand selected to repopulate the world. And he's got a dog that talks to him telepathically. Ooookay.

The label cult classic often means you're going to love it or hate it. This is an instance where I'll opt for the in between. The interaction between Johnson and his dog Blood are sometimes oddly bizarre but they both make for good characters. Once the film goes underground to the strange subterranian Topeka, that's where A Boy and His Dog really strays. Blood is gone and Johnson is left to fend for himself against a strange cult of impotent country folk wearing clown make-up. Once again - ooookay.

It's a weird, weird departure. And it doesn't work very well simply because of how little time the movie has; it only runs an hour and a half, and even with that it seems they were stretching their extremely minimal budget to the limit. I'm sure it isn't quite so jarring in the novella, but here I could never quite get over the abrupt and total change of atmosphere.

This isn't a bad movie, really. It's definitely not first-class stuff, but the sheer absurdity of it all kept my attention. And I'll give it this: it has one of the most memorable endings I've ever seen.

An excellent story written by Harlan Ellison, that makes for an interesting view of a future earth after a catastrophe. The effects are average for the film's time and the actors, including a young Don Johnson in the lead role, do all right with their roles but don't excel. The music is pretty non-existent through the film and where it does appear, it's not that good. As part of the plot deals with how two factions of survivors deal with the need for procreation there is some adult content and nudity in the film. There is also some bloody violence.

i watched this again last night

a great post-apocalyptic movie about a boy (Don Johnson) who's dog talks to him and helps him out.
no it is not one of those movies where they animate the dogs mouth, it is more like he speaks to him with his mind.

way better than Miami Vice

Where: DVD
Genres: Science-Fiction/Fantasy, Adventure, Cannibalism, Cult Film, Post-Apocalypse, Science-Fiction, Animal Heroes, Science Fiction

One line review: Best psychic dog post-apocalyptic nympho underground dweller movie ever.


When I saw that the local library had this available I *HAD* to pick it up. I'd read this novella by Harlan Ellison when I was a teenager and just reading the title brought back memories. I was interested to see how good (or bad) a film adaptation could be, and that it stars a young Don Johnson only sweetened the idea.

The first half of the film was surprisingly better than I thought it would be. It's kind of cheesy when Blood the psychic dog uses his telepathic radar and they make a stupid sound effect, but other than that the dog and the voice match perfectly and you suspend all disbelief that Blood and Vic (Don Johnson) aren't talking telepathically.

But of course, things go downhill. When our erstwhile hero encounters the subterranean dwellers who want to use him for stud, it *really* goes downhill. It does such a bad job of giving a 1970s glimpse of the future that it is almost painful to watch. Top that off with the fact that the pacing goes all weird and there are parts of the plot that don't *remotely* make sense, and the movie goes from "I'm surprised I'm enjoying this" to "yup, it's as bad as I expected".

They still kept the completely kick-ass ending though, with the only unfortunate part being that the previous scenes leading up to it were the worst in the movie so you're already in a bad frame of mind when you see it.


(IMDB)

Cast:
Star Don Johnson (Tin Cup - 70%, The Hot Spot - 67%, A Boy and His Dog - 79%)
Star Jason Robards (Quick Change - 93%, Parenthood - 92%, Melvin and Howard - 100%, Comes a Horseman - 80%, Julia - 77%)
Star Susanne Benton (A Boy and His Dog - 79%)
Star Alvy Moore (A Boy and His Dog - 79%)
Star Helen Winston
Star Charles McGraw
Director L.Q. Jones (A Boy and His Dog - 79%)
Source Writer Harlan Ellison (The Terminator - 100%, A Boy and His Dog - 79%)

Vic (Don Johnson), survivor of atomic holocaust, wanders hungrily across the bleak desert landscape in search of cans of food buried deep in radioactive ash. His telepathic dog, Blood depends on Vic for food, but Vic needs Blood to find him something much more scarce: female companionship. They eventually discover an underground society of survivors, called "Down Under," where they have reproduced the look of pre-apocalypse Americana but with frighteningly totalitarian politics. A cult black comedy based on the novella by Harlan Ellison.
I first read the novella about 25 yrs ago, and I didn't like it. It depicted women in a degrading manner and I thought the story was an overall vulgar & mediocre piece of writing. I couldn't figure out why it won the Nebula award. I finally saw this 1975 movie, and I'm still confused why it's received as much praise as it's had. The only thing impressive about it is the dog's acting ability, which far surpasses Don Johnson's.

A strange movie with some funny parts. The dog's sarcastic humor and ability to sniff out the location of females is what makes this post WWIII sci-fi fantasy so original. One of the best endings in cinematic history. 4/5

A BOY AND HIS DOG
(L.Q. JONES, 1975)
R
1 HOUR 27 MINUTES

Back in the mid-70's I took my girlfriend to see the movie "Where The Red Fern Grows" -- a real tearjerker about a boy and his two dogs. An excellent movie, BTW. So the next week we're driving around looking for something interesting to do and the marquee on a theater says they're showing "A Boy And His Dog". Oh, goodie, another movie about a boy and his dog! We pulled right in and bought tickets!

uuuuhhhhhhhhhh............

OK, it wasn't exactly what we were expecting. Probably woulda helped if we had looked at the poster first. Still, this movie is on my list of best movies ever. Perhaps not for the squeamish or people who hate bleak futuristic sci-fi, but an excellent movie. And, truth be told, it is about a boy and his dog.

It wasn't until a couple of decades later that I learned that the star was a 17-year-old Don Johnson. Miami Vice had come and gone in the meantime, but when I saw this movie he was a nobody. When Miami Vice came out, I didn't recognize him -- truth be told, I didn't watch the series that much.

"A boy and his dog" is a nice change of pace and a well needed breath of fresh air for the science-fiction genre.

Although far from perfect, the film hosts 90 minutes of wonderful dark humour and wit back dropped against a down to earth post-apocalyptic story of a scavenger and his best friend, a telepathic dog. The plot itself is suitably dry, often focusing more on character than any real form of storyline which admittedly hinders the film in some respect but makes it a very memorable one on the other hand. It's this decision which actually gives A Boy and his Dog an almost sentimental warmth, even with its anarchic themes and dangerously misogynist tone.

If you're looking for an original and completely honest look at a post-apocalyptic civilization with realistically written characters, this is the film for you. Oh, and it also boasts one of the best and most unexpected endings I've ever seen: safe to say it was a suitably hilarious ending to a film that never really takes itself seriously anyway. I recommend this to everyone!

8/10